Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[VK5RC]

A long and sorry saga, how hard can it be to fix a 12MHz counter with discrete 7 series logic ?  Well if it is dunderhead VK5RC it can take a month or so.
Long story short -  a buggered SN7400N and an ancient epitaxial transistor - I managed to find one of the transistors on FleeceBay, I wanted to keep it 'original'
EVENTUALLY I have got it working. Below it is reading a 12MHZ after 15mins warmup

[med6753]

Funny, looks like 11.9995MHz to me. 

I tease you...good job. 

[nixiefreqq]

hey oculus

wow.....really cool instrument.

however you accidently included some offensive material in the picture.

no need to apologize.

fixed it for you.

freqq

Accidentally? Accidentally??? Come on, you should know by now that it's 100% intentional. 

i offer you the olive branch of peace.

(please try not to poke me in the eye with it.)

[nixiefreqq]

A long and sorry saga, how hard can it be to fix a 12MHz counter with discrete 7 series logic ?  Well if it is dunderhead VK5RC it can take a month or so.
Long story short -  a buggered SN7400N and an ancient epitaxial transistor - I managed to find one of the transistors on FleeceBay, I wanted to keep it 'original'
EVENTUALLY I have got it working. Below it is reading a 12MHZ after 15mins warmup

nice!

why do you suppose they labeled it  "12.5 Mhz"?



was marketing making a point?

would 13 Mhz have been unlucky?

was it an inside joke?


some things just make you wonder.

[VK5RC]

It reads pretty reliably and sensitively up to about 13MHz then the sensitivity really starts to drop off. I suspect HP wanting a bit of margin for variation in parts etc, maybe also 100/8 ??

[bd139]

I made a new avatar based on yesterday's discussion 

Source artwork:

https://imgur.com/a/Rc4ABPv

[nixiefreqq]

you are a unrepentant rascal.

are there no limits to your wackiness?

next you will be soldering lids back on crippled decapitated regulators so that you can re-use the working bits.


ps  concerning that picture of the young lady and the calculator.  one I would like to have.  the other would annoy the piss out of me.  over time it would likely be reversed.

[AVGresponding]

Bah, just spent the last couple of hours cleaning DVDs, 'Babylon 5 - The Ultimate Collection'.

People that can't handle things without leaving greasy fingerprints everywhere annoy the hell out of me. More worrying were a couple of discs that appeared to be delaminating, one was just heavy surface contamination, the other plays without incident, but for how long idk...
Even more disturbing was that two of the discs have suffered woefully amateurish attempts at cleaning, leaving a badly scratched surface that feels slightly sticky to the touch 
These also both play, but again, for how long is anyone's guess.

Now I just need to work out the chronology so I can watch them in the correct order 

Got a TTi TA320S quite cheaply, but no pods, so if anyone knows where any are to be found, please let me know; I want to use it for projects, not have it become a major project 

On the subject of calculators, idk why anyone would ever want anything other than a Casio 

[xrunner]

you are a unrepentant rascal.

are there no limits to your wackiness?

next you will be soldering lids back on crippled decapitated regulators so that you can re-use the working bits.

[med6753]

I made a new avatar based on yesterday's discussion 

Source artwork:

https://imgur.com/a/Rc4ABPv

LMAO. Wise ass. 

[tggzzz]

Bah, just spent the last couple of hours cleaning DVDs, 'Babylon 5 - The Ultimate Collection'.

People that can't handle things without leaving greasy fingerprints everywhere annoy the hell out of me. More worrying were a couple of discs that appeared to be delaminating, one was just heavy surface contamination, the other plays without incident, but for how long idk...
Even more disturbing was that two of the discs have suffered woefully amateurish attempts at cleaning, leaving a badly scratched surface that feels slightly sticky to the touch 
These also both play, but again, for how long is anyone's guess.

The thickness of the CD/DVD is carefully chosen so that blemishes on the "transparent side" are out of focus. The metallised layer is closer to the "picture side", and can be buggered that way.

Now I just need to work out the chronology so I can watch them in the correct order 

There are several orders The principal ones are the production order and the "air date" order, with the season 4 finale being shown at the end of season 5. You should just watch them in the order on the DVDs

Apart from that, have fun with the story. If season 1 bores you, it is "permissable" to skip to season 2. Thereafter, play them in order.

Be aware that JMS sets up story points in one season, in preparation for them to be important one or even two seasons later. There's none of this "reset the plotline at the end of the episode" that you find in other "deep space franchises"

After you watch an episode, have a look at the relevant http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/eplist.html and see all the things you missed. Uniquely, the comments from JMS were made online immediately after each show's premier.

On the subject of calculators, idk why anyone would ever want anything other than a Casio  [/color][/b]

I've had two Casio calculators. One indicated 1+2*3=7, the other 1+2*3=9. Which flavour did you have in mind?

[0culus]

I made a new avatar based on yesterday's discussion 

Source artwork:

https://imgur.com/a/Rc4ABPv

 

you are a unrepentant rascal.

are there no limits to your wackiness?

next you will be soldering lids back on crippled decapitated regulators so that you can re-use the working bits.


ps  concerning that picture of the young lady and the calculator.  one I would like to have.  the other would annoy the piss out of me.  over time it would likely be reversed.

One of them is super collectible. 

[0culus]

I don't get the fascination with propping up old calculators when 98% of us carry a device with us most times that will run emulators if being in the minority and a twisted perverted RPN lover is your thing 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.efalk.rpncalc&hl=en_AU

(Attachment Link)

There’s something about holding the thing in my hand that emulators don’t replace.

What you hold in your hand and what you do with that hand is maybe better done in private 

  

[Specmaster]

Started up again? It's not over until the last equals button and the button pusher is 6 feet under 

Edit: I am trying to peel an LM723. I don't have a vice so this turns out to be a hell of a lot more difficult than it looks. Trying tin opener next 

Standard calculators far out number those RPN types so I think we'd win that battle, [emoji1787][emoji1787] just saying.

Sent from my POT-LX1 using Tapatalk

[tggzzz]

Started up again? It's not over until the last equals button and the button pusher is 6 feet under 

Standard calculators far out number those RPN types so I think we'd win that battle, [emoji1787][emoji1787] just saying.

Yes, but which of the two competing (7 or 9) "standards"? Just asking.

[mnementh]

Don't care as long as I get to keep agitatin'. 

mnem

[BU508A]

As a student in the mid-90's a friend of mine and me bought a HP 48G / 32k RAM.
We have upgraded the memory to 128k RAM and it is still with me and working.
A TI-81 which I bought nearly the same time gave up some years ago. Bleeding Display.

Overview of the PCB:


Detail of the mod:


And the result:

[med6753]

The replacement 465B PSU capacitors are installed. At bd139 and mnem's insistence I used the Ebay adapter rings to do the install rather than bodge it.  Mnem, I'll ask you again.....r  u fucking happy now??? 

Seriously, those adapters did make it much easier and neater to install. Now to put it back together and smoke test. 

 

[mnementh]

Yes. Very.  

Plus, it looks like little alien commandos on flying saucers in there... 

mnem

[bd139]

Excellent work with the adapters 

It always hurts to look at the tiny ones these days.

Talking of which I nearly bought a stupid capacitor at the last hamfest I went to. It was 2.2F at 35V. Was a foot long and 6 inches across and weighed about 4Kg and had NO VENTS. I wondered if I could blow it up with my 6286A. 10A at 24V the wrong way should do it. 

[nixiefreqq]

antennae are mounted on the truck.

lead acid 30 Ah batteries and radios are installed.

tested good on all 5 bands when monitored with the rf explorer SA (that makes it TEA).

will be heading up on the mountain in 15 minutes.

6m, 2m, 222 Mhz, 432 Mhz, and 1296.  fuck 902....who cares?

and naturally it looks like storms are coming this way.

bite my fat old hairy ass.

edit   arrl fall vhf/uhf contest.


 

[med6753]

antennae are mounted on the truck.

lead acid 30 Ah batteries and radios are installed.

tested good on all 5 bands when monitored with the rf explorer SA (that makes it TEA).

will be heading up on the mountain in 15 minutes.

6m, 2m, 222 Mhz, 432 Mhz, and 1296.  fuck 902....who cares?

and naturally it looks like storms are coming this way.

bite my fat old hairy ass.

edit   arrl fall vhf/uhf contest.

Have fun and stay dry.  Wet up here in NY too.

[bd139]

With all those antennas, don't forget to pack the porcupine repellent 

[med6753]

In other news...the 7A16A plug-in that I won on Ebay auction has shown up. Including shipping and tax I paid an outrageous sum of $31 USD total.  It will match the 7A16A I currently have. I prefer the single channel plug-in's over the dual channel like the 7A26 because it's easier to get at and clean the attenuator deck.  It's a 250MHz single channel plug-in that's the highest B/W 7000 series plug-in with 1MEG input impedance. The 7904 has a B/W of 500MHz and in order to utilize that you need to go to 50 ohm plug-ins like the 7A24 which has a B/W of 600MHz. I have one but I don't have the proper probes for it. That's probably my next scrounge hunt. 



Here it is on the left with it's companion 7A16A. Works great and going to let it cook for a while.   

[GregDunn]

Now I just need to work out the chronology so I can watch them in the correct order 

There are several orders The principal ones are the production order and the "air date" order, with the season 4 finale being shown at the end of season 5. You should just watch them in the order on the DVDs

Apart from that, have fun with the story. If season 1 bores you, it is "permissable" to skip to season 2. Thereafter, play them in order.

Be aware that JMS sets up story points in one season, in preparation for them to be important one or even two seasons later. There's none of this "reset the plotline at the end of the episode" that you find in other "deep space franchises"

After you watch an episode, have a look at the relevant http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/eplist.html and see all the things you missed. Uniquely, the comments from JMS were made online immediately after each show's premier.

There are more than a few S1 episodes which are important to understanding some of the later episodes and story arc.  Watching them with this in mind may help you get through them even though there is not much plot advancement.  A few are critical to see, otherwise you will be surprised and confused by a few things in pretty much every following season.  This is a rough recommendation of which ones should be watched:

The Gathering: intro to most of the characters.
Midnight on the Firing Line: more back story and a few helpful details about some of the alien races and Sinclair's story.
Soul Hunter: very useful to put a later made-for-TV movie into context, not essential to the plot.
Born to the Purple: much useful info on the Centauri, and there's a callback, in S5, to this episode which is important.
And the Sky Full of Stars: helps define Sinclair's story and the Earth-Minbari War.
Signs and Portents: introduces critical story arc details.
Legacies: a couple of small details that will become important later, not much story arc.
A Voice In the Wilderness, 1 and 2: essential.
Babylon Squared: essential.
The Quality of Mercy: contains essential info for several later episodes even though it does not advance the story.
Chrysalis: from here on, nearly every episode through S4 is important to the overall story.

I would add that the first part of S5 is pretty poorly laid out, but it ramps up after a few episodes and rounds out the 5 year story - plus the "conclusion".

Just remember that although you can probably gloss over a number of episodes without missing the overall story, many of them will provide context and make the story more complete.  I, myself, watched every episode the first time, but tend to skip a few on re-watching because I know the essentials and don't care to see them again.  If you choose to skip an episode, I recommend reading the "Lurker's Guide" entry for that episode; you may feel you need to watch it anyway!

You can probably skip the remaining S1 episodes without much damage, because they don't move the story along.  However, every episode has some info in it which may help understanding the characters and universe, so keep that in mind.  Pay close attention to anything involving the Psi Corps and the Minbari.

Enjoy!